March 22, 2013

Guiding Lights

The Montana Historical Society Research Center houses a
fascinating study that illuminates the history of one of Montana’s most unique
treasures.Brenda Spivey’s “Airway
Beacons:An Integral Part of Montana’s
Night VFR Navigational System, Past History, Present Service, and Present Value”
may appear to be a dry government report, but it tells an important story.I first learned of it while giving a talk at
the Montana Pilots Association.Several
people came up to me and asked, “Do you know about the beacons?”They offered all kinds of great information,
got me in contact with Mike Rogan who maintains the historic beacon system for
the Montana Aeronautics Division, and led me to a lot of resources, including
Spivey’s report.Here’s what I learned:

By 1911, though still in its infancy, aviation promised to
revolutionize transportation and commerce around the world.One idea for its use stood out to the U.S.
government – its promise to enable more rapid and reliable mail service.To that end, the U.S. Postal Service
introduced the concept of “airmail.”

The first regularly scheduled airmail service began in May
1918, when a fresh-faced young pilot named George Boyle attempted a route from
Washington, D.C., to Philadelphia, with President Woodrow Wilson looking
on.He flew north, then “inexplicably”
turned south, and by then hopelessly lost, landed in Waldorf, Maryland, just 25
miles from his starting point.Despite
this inauspicious beginning, the experiment continued, and by 1921 more
reliable compasses, altimeters, and turn and bank indicators helped pilots
navigate better.

Still, pilots depended on visual aids like landforms,
waterways, and railroads to fly accurately and safely – and therefore they
limited flights to the daylight hours.Airplanes
that carried mail had to land and transfer their cargo to trains by nightfall.This process proved inconvenient, laborious,
and expensive, so administrators looked for a more efficient alternative.

Determined that airmail succeed, the U.S. Postal Service Office director found private funding to continue the experiment.By 1923, electric or acetylene beacons lit routes
between Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Chicago.Just three years later, the Federal Airways Division installed its first
beacon in Moline, Illinois.By 1933, the
national lighted airways system covered 18,000 miles and included 1,500 beacons,including at least 39 in Montana.

The beacons guided pilots successfully for more than three
decades, but by 1965 advances in navigational equipment and the ongoing
maintenance expenses spurred the Federal Airways Division to consider which
beacons to extinguish.Of the 39 Montana
beacons, they determined that 19 could be decommissioned or moved.The remaining 20, however, were important to
navigating the mountainous terrain of western Montana–so important, that the state’s
Aeronautics Division advocated they stay in place.The FAA and Montana Aeronautics Division
shared responsibility for them until 1971, when the FAA began to bow out.Over the next several years, the State took charge
of them.Montana is now the only state
that maintains these historic nighttime lighted airways.

Since the 1970s, the idea of turning off the beacons has
come up several times, and a couple have been decommissioned – at Boulder Hill
and Bozeman Pass.The Montana
Aeronautics Division maintains 17 beacons.Three mark high terrain:Stoney
Point north of Helena, Monida at the Idaho border, and Silverbow near
Butte.The other fourteen mark the
airways between Lookout Pass, Missoula, Helena, Great Falls, Bozeman, and Butte–
and I’ll bet you’ve seen them without realizing what they were.Look for the towers with their distinguishing
orange and white paint and two-foot dome lights.Each rotating beacon emits 2 million
candlepower flashing in regular sequences and red course lights to guide planes
through the steep terrain.Try it!It’s a fun road-trip game.

Airway beacons currently maintained by the Montana
Aeronautics Division

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